Will Giants skip Zito’s turn?

Barry Zito did himself no favors with Saturday’s stinker of a start against the Padres. The schedule doesn’t help him, either.

The Giants have a scheduled day off Thursday. That would be Zito’s day to pitch, so they could skip him for Friday night’s game against Milwaukee — Matt Cain’s regular day — without disrupting the rest of the rotation.

Manager Bruce Bochy acknowledged before today’s game in San Diego that he and pitching coach Dave Righetti are talking about who might start Friday night. Bochy suggested the decision will hinge, in part, on how Cain and the other starters fare in the next few days.

It’s no stretch to picture the Giants skipping Zito and going with Cain, Ryan Vogelsong and Madison Bumgarner — all on their regular four days of rest — in next weekend’s series against Milwaukee. The Giants are off again next Monday (July 25), meaning Tim Lincecum, Cain and Vogelsong could then pitch against the Phillies in an NLCS rematch July 26-28 in Philadelphia.

By then, Jonathan Sanchez could be ready to rejoin the rotation. So even though Zito pitched superbly in his first three starts back from the disabled list, one terrible outing puts him on the fence, again.

Other pregame nuggets:

**Miguel Tejada will start at shortstop for the second consecutive game today, in place of Brendan Crawford. Crawford is 0-for-9 in this series, dropping his average to .194. Bochy also likes the way Tejada (who hit a homer Saturday) and second baseman Mike Fontenot have been swinging the bat.

**Mark DeRosa went 1-for-2 with a double and walk in his rehabilitation start for Class-A San Jose on Saturday night. DeRosa will play for San Jose again today — with Sanchez on the mound making his first rehab start.